3.5* bumped up to 4*
**Important note about this review: Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for access to a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately I ran out of time to read all of it before it archived, so I skimmed through, so these are my general impressions...

The "new normal" framework refers to the covid-19 pandemic and how even things that are not traditionally considered traumatic can generate traumatic responses. So, if some of your reactions, behaviors, mental states have changed since either covid or some major event/life experience, or if you've always felt that your childhood wasn't *that* bad but you have long-term mental health issues, this could be an excellent complement to therapy. Of course it should not replace treatment by a mental health professional.

I do worry that it's trying to be two things at once and not 100% successful, particularly when the pronouns/tone kind of jumps around - because it's meant for a clinician/clinician in training to understand the trauma-informed approach AND to be a workbook for people to deal with their trauma. I think that someone without any background in trauma-informed therapy/coaching might find it a bit difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

But if like me, you've read, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma and wanted to dig deeper and do some exercises that help deal with trauma and traumatic experiences, this would be an excellent "next step" resource and more accessible/affordable than EMDR or other modalities mentioned in that book.

I'm looking forward to fully trying out their 321 method and doing some of the exercises!

A very helpful book for those looking to work through trauma. There are so many prompts and exercises for the reader to experience. A very thorough book on this topic.

I could not get into this book. Mental health wellness and trauma work is my jam - but frankly I found some of the images jarring and the language used sounded like it was intended for a clinician and not a layperson. It was kind of a slog to read through and there were a few parts that didn’t seem to flow with the rest of the book.

I received an ARC courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley.

I didn’t get very far into this book before designating it a DNF. First, the formatting of the document made it hard to read, since every page had “copyrighted material” interspersed within the text in a large font. Second, the writing was dry and clinical. It didn’t hold my interest at all. I hope that other people will find the book useful, but it didn’t work for me.